Wednesday, 28 May 2008

This is a mighty effort and many other blogs have already featured this recent story and embedded video. As someone who lives and works away from their home country, I cannot help but feel like part of a minority at times - at least statistically speaking, this is a reality.

Although there are certain levels of racism and cultural divide in every country in which I travel in Asia, generally speaking Singapore is a great place to live (and I'm feeling more and more like a local every day). What Pete Teo and these 'Malaysian Artistes for Unity' have done here is nothing short of amazing, and their music is extremely powerful and fun to listen to.

Enjoy the music video - the multilingual lyrics and a banner link to 'Malaysian Artistes for Unity' can be found at the bottom of this blog post.

"WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO"

(Be sure to pause the 'O Singapura' stream on the left of this blog before playing this video)

"WHAT'S IT ABOUT?"

Pete was juggling tomatoes. Bored. So he telephoned a few friends. “How about getting together to make an anti-racism national unity song and music video?” All said yes without hesitation. not because Pete threatened them with a sharp and rusty knife, but only because they love Malaysia.

The contingent swelled to 52 people a few days later. It included filmmakers, dancers, singers, producers, musicians, actors, entrepreneurs, designers, footballers, activists, celebrities, students and a florist. Nobody would be paid. Yet they were enthused. Not because they were high on speed, only because they love Malaysia.

They gathered to record the song. It had a catchy chorus and was able to induce a mass sing-along. Everyone was happy when it was done. They named it ‘here in my home’. Then more people joined. The party now included more than 120 people, but the budget remained exactly zero. It seems even the spreadsheet loves Malaysia.

Everyone turned up for the video shoot. Much fun was had and friendships made. Video editors went to work after the shoot was done. Both the recording and the video would be given away for free. A gift to the nation from those who love Malaysia, to those who feel the same.